Doggone continued. "I think we should consult a psychic, ' declared Mini's mother. "No, what you need is a Tarot reader. Whenever you have a specific question in mind, Tarot gives you the best results," added Mini's grandfather. Mini's cousin, who had recently learnt HTML, suggested that they should set up a web site in honor of Julios. Sam, who was a recent convert to the scientific method, argued that they should get a psychologist to uncover hidden motives. It was Mini's grandmother who suggested the final denouement. Turning to Mr.Vaz, who was seated next to her, she whispered, "Don't you think you should get a sniffer dog? Set a thief to catch a thief, like they say," she added by way of support to her argument. "Set a thief to catch a thief", Mr.Vaz, muttered winking at George, as he unleashed the sniffer-dog into the house, the next day. After sniffing around Julios' effects for some time, and suspiciously circling George a couple of times - which action was duly noted and filed in the detective's mind - the sniffer-dog set off on a hot chase. The human detective, a little less fit, and by now growing a paunch with all the fees from the Mini household, set off behind the dog. " I hope they find that rotten dog now," thought George to himself. His accountant's mind told him that they could have raised a whole dog farm with the money that was being spent in search of Julios. That dog had cost him a whole lot of money, not to include the torture he had had to undergo. "It has been a very difficult case", beamed Mr.Vaz as he sipped the iced tea offered to him by Mini's mother. Julios was back with her beloved mistress, at last and he was assured of his rightful fees, and honor. His eyes had the same contented look that you might have observed in the eyes of the aforementioned snake after it had feasted on the said well-fed frog. Holding his audience spellbound, he continued, "There was no doubt in my mind that there was a second dog involved somewhere. You will no doubt remember my asking you about the moodiness of Julios. Since there was no lack of human love for Julios, the natural thing to look for was a canine love" Sam's eyes widened in wonder, just what Sherlock Holmes would have deduced, no doubt. "But the difficulty was to trace where Julios had found her love, and that is when the idea of a sniffer-dog came in handy. Like we said, set a thief to catch a thief," he chuckled. After that, he explained, it was elementary to recreate the events following the disappearance of Julios. The owner of a brown Pomeranian had found Julios hanging around his car when he had gone visiting his relatives. He thought nothing of it when he found the same white Pomeranian outside his house the next day. It was only when he noticed the extreme friendliness between the dogs that he had remembered seeing this particular dog in a distant part of the town. However, not knowing the address of the dog, he had been forced to give refuge to the dog, under his own roof. Things had been going fine until a couple of days before Mr.Vaz showed up, when Julios, having overcome her passions for the new family, started pining for Mini. Mr.Vaz, showing up at the right time, had presented his credentials and secured the release of the dog. "Needless to say, it was a mission which demanded the best negotiation skills," he paused significantly looking at Mr. George and finding Mr.George in no mood to compliment him, forged on. "A less experienced agency would have no doubt botched up the issue, delaying the release of Julios, and you can't put a monetary value on the agony it would have caused you", he finished looking at Mini's mother. "We fully appreciate your effort and it shall not go unrewarded", said Mrs.George, fixing her eye on the head of the family. George sighed and pulled out the check book, for, when the queen bee commands, who can disobey? Sounds of Mini and Julios gamboling in the garden filtered in through the windows and lightened his misery somewhat. The End Story Index Copyrights reserved by the author. If in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' for details.

Click here to transfer to the author's website or contact him at: akaram@hotmail.com or n_ram@yahoo.com

Copyrights.